Entrepreneurship is considered a necessary life skill for the youths and future generations to come. It is necessary in an ever-changing and evolving world where new careers are born and old ones disintegrate. This is why we believe every child should be equipped to think out of the box by having entrepreneurial skills at their fingertips.

We organized an entrepreneurship bootcamp for children aged 7 to 16yrs, from the 27th to 30th December 2017.

The Bootcamp was based on an entrepreneurship book titled “Minipreneur” by Olanrewaju Oniyitan, a business consultant and CEO at Wholistic Business Solutions Ltd. It is a book that centers on teaching young children from the age of 5 the basics of entrepreneurship. From planning to execution stage, dreams to hobbies, hobbies to big ideas, the children even got to develop a business plan and learn how to also give back to their society.

There were lots of critical thinking, take home, singular and teamwork activities to prepare the kids for the real world. Topics touched on included planning, pricing, marketing, CSR, investing, e.t.c. and we had entrepreneurs to talk with the kids.

Day one centered on getting the children into teams and introducing them to the concept of entrepreneurship. We had the Group Head, Non-Interest Banking at Sterling Bank, Dr Bashir Oshodi, do a one hour session on “What Investors Look For in Business.” We then discussed chapters 1 -4, and touched on some real life case studies. Team names were chosen and business ideas developed.

Day two was serious work day as the author of “Minipreneur” spent the whole day taking the children through chapter 5 – The Business Plan. A draft business plan was practiced before the real one was embarked on. We also had a Special “Meet-An-Entrepreneur” session with the CEO of Fruitcakes BY Daizee, Mrs Desola Eghagha. She was so sweet as we got a special, large sized, workshop themed naked cake as a gift.

Day three was technical day as we talked taxation and e-commerce. Mrs Abimbola Lekki of Lagos State Internal Revenue was on hand to give us the basic nitty-gritty of taxes in relation to businesses. Mr Ajibola Animashuan of Three Points Consulting did a lovely presentation on e-commerce and we all enjoyed discovering what advantages the internet gave us with helping businesses. We capped that with a talk on “Pitching For Sales” by Ms Mutiat Olagoke of Egret Media Concepts.

Day four, final day was presentation day. Our judges were Mrs Doyinsola Adebomehin, an educational consultant and behavioural psychologist at The Learning Place, Lekki; Mrs Olanrewaju Oniyitan, author of Minipreneur and CEO, Wholistic Business Solutions; and Ms Mutiat Olagoke, a communication specialist and CEO of Egret Media Concepts. We had the staff of Sterling Bank come to talk to us about their products, especially those related to businesses, then we had our team presentations.

There were 5 teams of 5 members each. Team A, company named HANNE, won the first price with their lovely presentation of their HANNE Packaging Company. Parents and guests were present to show support and vote for their best teams.

Cognitive health is very important. It is our ability to think, learn and remember. It is also the basis for how we reason, make judgements, concentrate, plan and organize. Most importantly, it contributes to our overall health and helps with healthy aging.

As adults, we get carried away with work, family and other aspects of life and this actually burns us out physically ad mentally. It’s time to sit back, take a deep breathe and focus on getting our brain healthy, the same way we are so fixated with out bodies.

At The Reading Gym Nigeria, we focus on using reading as the main approach to helping children maintain optimal cognitive functions; while our cognitive wellness center is mainly for adults. We aim to sensitize our adult clients on the importance of a wholistic approach to optimal cognitive wellness and the advantages of starting NOW, for a brighter and more enjoyable old age period….afterall, retirement shouldn’t be only about pensions – you can’t enjoy your pension if your cognition isn’t healthy!